Honorary Members

Alexander (Sandy) Aird

Alexander (Sandy) Aird was born in Toronto, grew up in Montreal, and graduated from McGill University. He is a former Senior Partner, Deloitte Consulting. Sandy has been a director of a number of Canadian companies and continues to consult to boards of directors and executives. Active in the not-for-profit sector, he served as: Chair of the Board of the Hospital for Sick Children and Vice-Chair of the SickKids Foundation. His over 30 years of involvement with the MS Society of Canada includes: Past National Chair MS Society Board of Directors, Past Chair of the Multiple Sclerosis Scientific Research Foundation and Chair of the first endMS capital campaign. Sandy and his wife live in Toronto. They have four children and seven grandchildren. In addition to all of his family his passions are golf and painting.

Jeremy Arnold

Jeremy Arnold is a retired chartered accountant. He worked for accounting firms Touche, Ross and Arthur Andersen holding positions in offices in Sydney, San Francisco, London, Toronto and Brussels. He became a partner with Arthur Andersen in 1974 and transferred to their Toronto office where he ran the audit practice for 13 years. His clients have been in a variety of industries including insurance brokering, manufacturing, consumer products, and advertising and retailing. He has served as a director on numerous boards in both the corporate and not-for-profit sectors. Jeremy resides in Jersey in the Channel Islands.

Frank Bowman

Frank Bowman is Senior Counsel at Dentons Canada LLP. He has over 38 years as a litigation lawyer practicing at all levels of courts. Frank was awarded a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal and Law Society of Upper Canada Medal for his contributions to legal education, community services, and volunteer and not for profit activities. From 1980 to 2014, Frank was the National Honorary Legal Counsel and an Honorary Director of the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada. Frank is active with the Gale Cup Moot Competition (Canadian Mooting Championship) serving as a committee member and chair from 1981-2013 and is currently Chairman Emeritus. From 1998—2014, Frank served as legal advisor, director, and former President of the York Mills Valley Association.

Laurie Dennett

Laurie Dennett is a supporter of the MS Society and author. 1986 was the year for MS champions. To commemorate this, Laurie, whose mother had MS, walked via an ancient pilgrimage route from northern France to Spain. She succeeded in raising $90,000 for MS research. Her walk was featured in weekly broadcasts with Toronto radio station CFRB which raised awareness of MS. Laurie’s walk touched many people. She later authored A Hug for the Apostle: On Foot from Chartres to Santiago de Compostela, a book that documented her extraordinary journey. She later went on to complete two more walks – to Rome and Jerusalem raising funds and awareness of MS wherever she walked.

Garrett Herman

Garrett Herman is the Chairman and CEO of Loewen Ondaatje McCutcheon. He joined LOM Limited in 1990 following an extensive career with Merrill Lynch Canada. While at Merrill, he held a number of progressive positions including Manager of Institutional Equity and Research, Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer, Head of Private Client Division, as well as Member of the Board of Directors. He served as a Senior Vice President and Director for the Equity Division at Merrill, responsible for all Institutional Sales and Trading, Research, Syndication and Capital Commitment.

Garrett was a member of the Consular Corps of Ontario. He is also a past President of the Canada Sri Lanka Business Council and is a past Honorary Consul for the People’s Republic of Bangladesh. Garrett was Chairman of the Annual LOM Gala and Auction to benefit the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada, an event started in 1994 (15 years). He was a Director of the MS Society Board of Directors, a Director of the Multiple Sclerosis Scientific Research Foundation and a member of the cabinet for the endMS campaign. He also was a Transitional Award donor. Garrett also holds positions as Chairman of the Galapagos Conservancy Canada formerly called Charles Darwin Foundation of Canada and a Director of Grapes for Humanity, as well as Grapes for Humanity Global Foundation.

He holds memberships at The Grolier Club - New York, The Association Internationale de Bibliophilies - Paris, The Mount Royal Club - Montreal and The National Club - Toronto.

Garrett has a B.A.from Concordia University, is a Fellow of the Canadian Securities Institute (F.C.S.I.) and has a honourary Doctor of Letters (D.Litt.) from the University of Edinburgh.

Daniel Larouche

Daniel is a marketing and communications professional. He is the president of Larouche Consultant Inc. and has held senior executive positions at GPC International, BLSV Communications et Affaires publiques and Unigesco. Daniel has been a volunteer with the MS Society of Canada since 1990. He has served in leadership roles at the division and national levels and with the Multiple Sclerosis Society Research Foundation. Daniel was the Chair and Vice-Chair of both the MS Society Board of Directors and the Quebec Division board and was a member of numerous committees and task forces that are vital to the work and success of the Society. On the international MS front, Daniel is on the Board of Trustees with the MS International Federation.

Daniel has been honored for his volunteer contributions to the MS Society. He received the National Medal for the Society’s 50th anniversary in 1998, the Society Division Award of Merit in 2002 and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2003.

Linda Lumsden

Linda has been a dedicated volunteer of the MS Society since 2000. After retiring from Bell with 31 years of service that spanned a variety of executive management positions including customer service, labour negotiations, budget management and strategic planning, she wanted to volunteer in the community.

Linda has served in leadership roles at every level of the MS Society. She was the chair and vice-chair of the MS Society Board of Directors (National) and of the boards of both the Ontario & Nunavut Division and the Ottawa Chapter. Linda has also participated as a member of and chaired numerous committees, task forces, and working groups on a broad range of issues and activities touching vital aspects of the work of the MS Society.

Linda has had an influence and a tremendous impact on the direction of the MS Society in the past decade that few other individuals have. Her contributions illustrate her long-standing and steadfast commitment to the MS Society.

A leader motivates, teaches, recognizes strengths and talents in others, and fosters confidence and trust. Linda embodies these qualities wholeheartedly. One of the hallmarks of Linda’s outstanding leadership qualities is her ability to contribute and engage at the community level, but also understand the larger organizational picture. All those who have worked with Linda and continue to work with her have been greatly enriched by the superb leadership that she brings to the Society.

Lou Maroun

Lou Maroun is a real estate executive. He began his real estate career in 1982 following seven years with the Nova Scotia Department of the Attorney General. He has held progressive senior management positions at Roycom Realty, Roycom Securities/Roycom Advisors, Summit REIT, and Ing Real Estate Canada. In 1996, the Summit Real Estate Investment Trust was launched and under Lou’s tenure as Chief Executive officer, it grew to become one of Canada’s largest REIT’s and the country’s largest publicly traded owner and manager of industrial real estate. Following Summit REIT’s privatization by ING Real Estate Canada in 2006, Lou became Executive Chairman of ING Real Estate Canada until 2009.

Lou is Chairman of Sigma Real Estate Advisors/Sigma Capital Corporation an investment advisory firm specializing in the Canadian, United States, and Bermuda real estate markets.

Lou holds board positions with several public companies including as a board member and chairman of Summit Industrial Income REITand as a board member of Brookfield Renewable Energy Partners Fund and Brookfield Property Partners.

In 2006, Lou was elected to the position of Fellow of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, a prestigious appointment that recognizes both length of service to the real estate investment industry and successful underwriting and investment.

Lou has participated on charitable boards in the broad areas of health, conservation, and the arts. He is the past chair of both the MS Society of Canada Board of Directors and the Atlantic Division Board of Directors, served on the advisory board of the first endMS capital campaign, and is a board member and vice-chair of the Multiple Sclerosis Scientific Research Foundation. He was also a board member of the Multiple Sclerosis International Federation. He is the co-founder with his wife Kathryn of Casting for Recovery Canada, an organization that supports women who have or have had breast cancer. Lou is leading the creation of a special collection at the Cape Breton University Library focused on Middle Eastern Studies.

Lou enjoys cycling, sailing/boating, scuba diving and fly-fishing in worldwide destinations, an interest he shares with his wife Kathryn.

Dr. William J. McIlroy

Dr. William McIlroy is a retired clinical neurologist. From 1982-2007, he served as the national medical advisor to the MS Society of Canada. During his distinguished tenure, he interpreted what was happening medically and scientifically in the MS community. Dr. McIlroy served on volunteer scientific committees that oversaw the MS Society of Canada research program and review of applications for research grants. His contributions to the MS community extended beyond Canada. In the late 1980’s and early 1990’s he chaired the Medical Advisory Committee of the International Federation of Multiple Sclerosis Societies (now known as Multiple Sclerosis International Federation).

Reid Nicholson

Reid Nicolson has been living with MS for more than 35 years. At age 39 Reid was an officer with the Canadian Navy when he first began experiencing MS symptoms. Reid moved to Cape Breton and began volunteering with the local chapter of the MS Society of Canada. This initial volunteer commitment led to more than 30 years involvement with the MS Society. Reid served in every capacity at the chapter, divisional, national and international level. He has served on boards of directors at all levels of the Society, was a member of and chair of numerous committees and task forces that focussed on MS education, communications, social and income security and human rights.

At the international level Reid was involved with the International Federation of Multiple Sclerosis Societies (IFMSS) (now known as the Multiple Sclerosis International Federation). Reid was a member and then chair of the IFMSS Persons with MS Committee. He spearheaded the establishment of the Canadian Persons with MS Committee. Reid was the chairman of the IFMSS committee on employment initiatives and contributed to the creation of “Working Together” a program that helps people with MS remain in the workforce. He helped design and test a globally accessible databank on information important to persons with MS and was part of the task force on the Needs of Disabled Students in Higher Education making recommendations concerning fee structures to accommodate students with disabilities.

Reid received an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from Dalhousie University in 1996. He is retired and lives in Sydney, Nova Scotia with his wife Evelyn.

Neil Wickham

Neil Wickham is the President and Portfolio Manager, Wickham Investment Counsel. He has extensive experience as an investment portfolio manager with two of the largest Canadian trust companies, having managed portfolios ranging in size from $200,000 to more than $30 million for individuals, estates and trusts, foundations, pension funds,corporations and charitable organizations.

Prior to becoming portfolio manager in January 1992, Neil had more than 23 years of experience with stockbrokerage firms (including two firms as vice-president), as an investment research analyst and as an investment research department manager. Neil has worked on a variety of corporate financing projects with several major Canadian stock/securities brokerage firms.

Neil has earned his Chartered Financial Analyst® designation. Neil has also been very involved in a national charitable organization, for twenty-five years, on the local, provincial and national levels.

Jim Wolfgang

Jim Wolfgang has lived with MS for more than 49 years. He has been involved with the MS Society of Canada for more than 32 years beginning as a volunteer fundraiser. Jim has served on boards of directors at both the provincial and national level of the Society. He was a director and past chair of the BC & Yukon Division board of directors from 1989 to 2006. At the national level he served as a director on the MS Society Board of Directors from 2010 to 2012. On the international MS front, Jim was a delegate to the International Federation of MS Societies (IFMSS) (now known as the Multiple Sclerosis International Federation) meetings in London, England in1992 and was appointed as MS Society representative to the IFMSS Persons with MS committee from 1994-2010.